Darkness
Zartan and the Dreadnoks have arrived at McGuire Air Force Base in New Jersey, not far from Fort Wadsworth. They see a Dragonfly heading in and Buzzer recognize it as the exact type that they fought in Florida. Zartan decides to check things out and disguises himself as Hawk, marching straight into the base. He meets the arrivals, including a wounded Wild Bill, but doesn't know his name. The others assume Hawk has just been busy and transfer the wounded to an ambulance. On Staten Island Fred Broca purchases a house on the road leading into Fort Wadsworth. In Springfield Cobra Commander talks to Zartan over the phone and tells him to keep McGuire under observation. The Dreadnoks have found an abandoned petrol station in the New Jersey swamp and Zartan uses his holographic device to convert it into a replica of his old lair in Florida. On Staten Island a removals lorry delivers a lot of furniture and equipment to the new Broca family home, allowing Fred to engage in surveillance of the military base. The ambulance carrying Wild Bill enters and heads for the lift down into the Pit where they are met by Hawk. Doc and Wild Bill are astonished as they have only just left Hawk at McGuire and the Joes wonder who was there. Meanwhile Cobra Commander radios Zartan to tell him he is convinced McGuire is the G.I. Joe base. The Deadnoks are dispatched with orders to cut the base fence. In Springfield, the Baroness and Major Bludd discover Billy searching through secret files. The Baroness realizes that maybe Billy can help them betray Cobra Commander because he hates him for what he did to his father and the torture he received in Dr. Venom's dungeon. Meanwhile Fred receives news that all Crimson Guards are being recalled to Springfield and is furious. He misses seeing a convoy of vehicles leaves Fort Wadsworth for McGuire, having realized the fake Hawk is Zartan. At McGuire the Dreadnoks cut open the fence but then Torch decides to head in and cause chaos, in defiance of their orders. They start sabotaging the vehicles with their blades and chainsaw. Outside the base two Arbco Bros. Circus lorries pull up and a squad of H.I.S.S.es and F.A.N.G.s disembark. Cobra Commander orders them to stand-by to cover a withdrawal. Rather than a wasteful frontal assault he wants a surgical strike. But at this moment the Dreadnoks destroy the undercarriage of a Skystriker, causing it to collapse and explode. With the alarms sounding, Cobra Commander orders a frontal assault. He sees the Dreadnoks escaping and realizes what went wrong, but decides to deal with them later. However as the Dreadnoks exist the base they encounter the convoy of Joes attacking. The Dreadnoks flee and the Joes enter the base. The two forces battle until Cobra Commander's own H.I.S.S. is destroyed and he barely escapes aboard a F.A.N.G. The next morning Hawk tells a saddened Ace that he will get another Skystriker. Meanwhile in New York Firefly and Destro arrive by boat. Destro explains his plan is to return to Springfield pretending nothing has happened so as to keep Cobra Commander ignorant of their treachery. "Then, when his guard is down, and he least expects it... we strike!" |Appearing1= Featured Characters Featured Vehicles & Equipment Featured Locations |MemorableQuotes1= |Errors1=* The F.A.N.G.s are referred to as "S.N.A.P." copters - a working name for the vehicle? *In the same scene, the H.I.S.S. tanks are tiny compared to those previously seen in the comic - they look like the toy ones, whereas the comic ones have been much larger up to this point. Later, during the actual battle, they seem to return to their usual dimensions, though it's hard to tell. *The slit on the top of Cobra Commander's helmet once again keeps changing colour, this time alternating between blue and white. |ItemsOfNote1=*'First appearance': H.I.S.S. Driver *In the United Kingdom the story was reprinted in Action Force #20 & #21. |RealWorldRefs1= |Footnotes= }} Category:Comic Packs